On 8/28/07, Eva Revesz <erevesz Æ hotmail.com> wrote:
How does testing Chinese women on their favorite color prove that color=
preference is biologically determined? If that's all thi= s study has to go
by in the nature vs. nurture argument regarding color = preference, than
that's pretty scant.
I have no idea whether the Chinese dress th= eir baby girls in pink and their
baby boys in blue -- and this study doe= sn't even tell us either -- but the
mere fact that the entire Wester= n world does is enough these days to argue
for an influence of our culture on theirs, hegemonic as it has become.<= br>Very weak argument here, if you ask me.
Trixie

>= ;From: "bethany soule" < bsoule Æ gmail.com>
>To: improvetheworld Æ umich.edu
>Subject: sex difference: the col= or pink
>Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 23:13:00 -0400
>
>(from:= =20 h= ttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070820120720.htm)
>>Girls Prefer Pink, Or At Least A Redder Shade Of Blue
>
>= Science Daily =97 A study in Current Biology reports some of the first
>conclusive evidence in support of the long-held notion that men and=
>women differ when it comes to their favorite colors. Indeed, the>researchers found that women really do prefer pink--or at least a
>redder shade of blue--than men do.
>
>"Although we exp= ected to find sex differences, we were surprised at
>how robust they = were, given the simplicity of our test," said Anya
>Hurlbert of = Newcastle University, UK. In the test, young adult men and
>women were asked to select, as rapidly as possible, their preferred=
>color from each of a series of paired, colored rectangles.
><= br>>The universal favorite color for all people appears to be blue, they
>found. "On top of that, females have a preference for the red = end of
>the red-green axis, and this shifts their color preference sl= ightly
>away from blue towards red, which tends to make pinks and lil= acs the
>most preferred colors in comparison with others," she said.>
>Overall, the differences between men and women were clear enou= gh that
>the seasoned researchers can now usually predict the sex of = a
>participant based on their favorite-color profile.
>
>T= o begin to address whether sex differences in color preference depend
&g= t;more on biology or culture, the researchers tested a small group of
>Chinese people amongst the other 171 British Caucasian study
>par= ticipants. The results among the Chinese were similar, Hurlbert
>said= , strengthening the idea that the sex differences might be
>biologica= l. The explanation might go back to humans' hunter-gatherer
>days, when women--the primary gatherers--would have benefited from = an
>ability to key in on ripe, red fruits.
>
>"Evolu= tion may have driven females to prefer reddish colors--reddish
>fruit= s, healthy, reddish faces," Hurlbert said. "Culture may exploit
>and compound this natural female preference."
>
>S= he said another way to separate "nature versus nurture" when it c= omes
>to favorite colors will be to test the preferences of infants. = The
>researchers have plans to modify the color-choice test for use in>young babies and hope to have some answers on that front soon.
>= ;
>About the universal preference for blue, "I can only speculat= e," said
>Hurlbert. "I would favor evolutionary arguments again here. Go= ing back
>to our 'savannah' days, we would have a natural pre= ference for a clear
>blue sky, because it signaled good weather. Clea= r blue also signals a
>good water source."
>
>The researchers include Any= a C. Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling of Newcastle
>Univesity in Newcastle upo= n Tyne,UK.
>
>Hurlbert and Ling: "Biological components of= sex differences in colour
>preference." Publishing in Current Biology, 21 August 2007, R6= 23-625.

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